In most wine regions across the world, there’s a plethora of rules that winemakers and vineyard owners must obey. This ranges from which grapes can be grown where, when a grower can start harvest, what methods have to be used in the winery and even the type of corks that can be used.

But in the States, that’s not the case. For the most part, winemakers can grow what they want and make what they want the way they want to. And so, in the spirit of freedom and the Fourth of July, check out these six wines from fiercely independent winemakers in the U.S. who are changing the conversation and doing it their own way. Continue Reading

4. 2015 CHANNING DAUGHTERS ROSATO DI REFOSCO

While everyone else was trying to figure out how to get Bordeaux grape varieties, like cabernet and merlot, to ripen in the persnickety climate of Long Island’s North Fork, Channing Daughters winery was tinkering with different grapes, especially cooler-climate Italian varieties, to see if there might be more viable alternatives. Winemaker Chris Tracy found that even if the red grapes can’t get ripe enough to make red wines, they can make exceptional rosé so nice he makes six different ones every vintage. Here, he’s using northern Italy’s red refosco grape to produce this juicy, jolly, berried dry rosé ($20).